Media

AT&T Accused of Foul Play in Kris Allen's American Idol Win

Fellow iPhone users may occasionally grumble about AT&T's network coverage, but this week the company stands accused of a much more serious issue: swaying the American Idol result towards an undeserved win for Kris Allen.

AT&T was a leading corporate sponsor of American Idol and the only network on which votes could be cast via text messaging. The company provided a special free texts service to attendees of two Kris Allen parties in Arkansas during the Idol finale last week, but didn't make any similar offers to Adam Lambert fans, according to reports. The specific feature demoed to partygoers was "power texting" - the ability to send 10 or more texts at once.

Whether valid or not, the accusation is likely to draw attention given the huge base of support for both singers: Lambert in particular commands a massive amount of web buzz.

The story broke in the The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette last week, but gained steam this week when picked up by the New York Times. The Times writes:

Representatives of AT&T helped fans of Mr. Allen at the two Arkansas events by providing instructions on how to send 10 or more text messages at the press of a single button, known as power texts. Power texts have an exponentially greater effect on voting than do single text messages or calls to the show’s toll-free phone lines. The efforts appear to run afoul of “American Idol” voting rules in two ways. The show broadcasts an on-screen statement at the end of each episode warning that blocks of votes cast using “technical enhancements” that unfairly influence the outcome of voting can be thrown out.

And the show regularly states that text voting is open only to AT&T subscribers and is subject to normal rates.

Clearly AT&T didn't intentionally support Kris Allen, and the ability for two local parties to affect a national vote seems slim but plausible. If the winning margin was narrow enough, or if AT&T is found to have encouraged rule breaking as the Times reports, Lambert fans may have a case.

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